NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 64
BOSTON 2017
Conference & Expo
As security was readied in the days leading up to the
marathon, runners loaded up on carbs and rest, hoping
for a cool, cloudy race day. They didn't get it: marathon
Monday was sunny with temperatures approaching 80, and
the heat was largely responsible for the roughly 2,300 runners who required medical attention.
But that was the only significant concern on a day that
was buoyant and otherwise incident-free. Given the heightened tension in the country, it can be hard to imagine that
so many people could joyously gather in one area without
some kind of trouble. Considering the events that occurred
four years earlier in Boston, it can seem almost miraculous.
On the afternoon of Monday, April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs exploded near the marathon's crowded finish
line on Boylston Street. Three people were killed and hundreds more were injured, many horribly maimed. Over the
reviewing world events, looking at threats and hazards, and
changing and adapting our plans."
Prevention and protection
On a recent April morning, Schwartz took a break from
preparations for the 2017 Boston Marathon to talk about the
lessons of 2013. In addition to directing MEMA, from 2010
to 2015 Schwartz also served as undersecretary for homeland
security and emergency management in the state's Executive
Office of Public Safety.
Perhaps the most significant change is the increase in the
amount of focus and resources MEMA now places on "prevention and protection," Schwartz said-ways to protect venues
and prevent attacks from ever happening. This means working
with the public to discourage people from bringing certain
items when they attend major public events, such as backpacks and coolers. "See
something, say something" is emphasized.
More video surveillance
cameras are being
installed in public areas.
The number of
trained plainclothes
officers has been significantly increased at
public events. "The public may not know it, but they should
expect that they are being closely watched by people who
are trained to detect suspicious behavior," Schwartz said. To
access viewing areas, spectators may be funneled into narrower walkways, allowing law enforcement to more easily
observe and watch, Schwartz said.
The actions of law enforcement, emergency medical personnel, hospitals, and other public safety assets in April 2013 have
been analyzed in great depth by at least two significant studies: "After Action Report for the Response to the 2013 Boston
Marathon Bombing," developed by MEMA and other partners,
and "Why Was Boston Strong? Lessons from the Boston Marathon Bombing," coauthored by four scholars of emergency
management and criminal justice at Harvard University.
Both reports gave the response high marks. "Boston was
strong in large part due to its readiness for catastrophe," the
Harvard scholars concluded-a key component of the type
of resiliency that allows a community to respond, withstand,
adapt, and quickly recover from a shock like a terrorist attack.
Codes and standards can play an important role in maintaining resiliency, including NFPA 1600®, Disaster/Emergency
Management and Business Continuity/Continuity of Operations Programs; NFPA 1616, Mass Evacuation, Sheltering, and
Re-entry Programs; and NFPA 1620, Pre-Incident Planning.
But the reports also pinpoint telling weaknesses, including
the lack of a joint information center that emergency officials could use to update the public. The reports also noted
the lack of coordination and management of mutual aid
when more than 2,500 law enforcement officers, many self
deployed, converged on a community near Boston as part of
the hunt for the bombing suspects.
" THE PUBLIC MAY NOT KNOW IT,
BUT THEY SHOULD EXPECT THAT
THEY ARE BEING CLOSELY WATCHED
BY PEOPLE WHO ARE TRAINED TO
DETECT SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR. "
course of an unsettling week, the city struggled to make
sense of the horrific act as it searched for those responsible.
Why the marathon? Why Boston?
The events of that week changed how the city's police,
fire, and emergency management officials plan for and
respond to emergencies, incidents of terrorism chief among
them. Some of those changes are apparent, like using large
city vehicles to block streets to prevent attackers from
driving into crowds, such as the attack in Nice, France last
July that killed 86 people, or the recent attacks in London
and Stockholm that each killed four. Many other changes
are behind the scenes-training and preparation, the
establishment of command facilities and emergency communications strategies, and more-but no less important
for ensuring safety at large public events. Since the bombings, four more marathons have been run, each involving
more than a million spectators and runners. The city has
held parades for its victorious professional sports teams,
with tens of thousands of people lining the streets. Every
July, as they have for decades, huge crowds gather on the
city's Esplanade for the annual Fourth of July concert and
fireworks.
Authorities continue to apply the hard lessons learned
from that day in April, and from subsequent events that
have occurred across the globe.
"The changes we've made in our approach to planning
for events are not all attributable to the Boston Marathon
bombing," Kurt Schwartz, MEMA director, told me. "They
are also attributable to our analysis of and familiarity with
terrorist and other types of attacks around the world since
April 2013. It's an ongoing process. We are continually
64 | NFPA JOURNAL * M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 7
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - May/June 2017
Contents
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 1
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - Contents
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 3
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 4
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - 5
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NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - I1
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NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - May/June 2017 - Cover4
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